Ping’s G440 K driver makes a surprising first impression

Wwelcome to Fully eligible 2026GOLF’s new platform to provide you with real golfer insight into which 2026 equipment might be best for your game. To that end, we gathered six GOLF content creators of varying abilities and put them through the gauntlet of six full-bag rigs (from driver to bag!) at six major club manufacturers in Phoenix and Carlsbad, California.

***

The skies were blue, the air was dry and hopes were high as our Fully Fit panel settled in for mount no. 1 of our six-OEM assembly bonanza at Ping’s Proving Grounds in Phoenix.

Our fully geared panel of myself (Jack Hirsh), Johnny Wunder, Jake Morrow, Maddi MacClurg and Wadeh Maroun — Sean Zak didn’t arrive until the next day of the trip — was ready to start our new WITB trip.

Ping Proving Grounds is the only OEM facility we visited that is not in Southern California. The driving range is in the middle of an industrial park that’s part of Ping’s parent company, Karsten Manufacturing Corporation—none of which hurts the first-class experience to fit in there.

FULLY CUSTOMIZED: Fully Fit Center Site | Here’s why we’re ‘testing’ golf clubs differently this year | Within 6 days of fitting and testing | Browse 2026 Leaders | Browse 2026 bars

Ping’s pride as an engineering company shows through both its golf clubs and the advanced Ping Co-Pilot app that its fitters use to fill the bags, a unique time that only myself, Johnny Wunder and Wadeh Maroun had experienced before.

This time, at the top of everyone’s bag was a surprise contender: the young woman Ping G440 K Driver.

No one had seen it G440 K before this ride, and many of us probably thought it would be a maximum forgiveness high spin driver ideal for players with slow swing speeds. We were wrong.

Johnny went in wanting to make the driver work for him no matter what, but it turns out he didn’t have much work to do.

“You have your preconceived ideas of what that driver is supposed to be,” he said. “What really surprised me.

“Typically, a driver like that for me is something that I’m always worried about spinning too much or just something that I don’t need it to be, and this driver was significantly better than anything else I hit.”

Jake, Johnny and I all left Ping feeling like we might end up playing that driver – but we still had a lot of rigging to do.

PING G440 K Custom Driver

View Product

ALSO ALSO IN: PGA TOUR Superstore

Further into the bag, the Wadeh went in thinking it would fit Ping’s golfer irons, but ended up in their new (and still unreleased) hollow body irons. Meanwhile, Maddi dug deep into her bag to make sure she didn’t have any clubs that were too close together.

Throughout the day, we also had a special guest appearance from six-time PGA Tour winner and Fully Equipped contributor Rocco Mediate, who lives in the area. Rocco sports a bag full of Ping gear and told Johnny that his trip was probably over.

“You have to continue with this club test here“- said Roko. “And then stop.”

At the end of Day 1, each of us felt confident that we could play great golf with a full set of Ping clubs. But there was still much work to be done.

Be sure to watch the first full episode of Fully Fit above or below YouTube.

Ready to overhaul your bag in 2026 like our Fully Fit panelists? Find a convenient club location near you at True Spec Golf.

“>